Assessment of a given periodical is basic to measuring the quality of research, as well as its reliability and seriousness. The objective of this article is to identify formal aspects to be improved and aspects that are already adequate to the formality required of the universe of scientific publications; to this end, an analysis methodology was applied to the periodicals to enable the identification of formal aspects of the publication. Four publications from the field of Special Education were evaluated, those being, Benjamin Constant, Revista Brasileira de Educação Especial, Revista Educação Especial and Espaço, in relation to the formal aspects of each periodical. The conclusions showed that the periodicals analyzed have already achieved some criteria, but there is still work to be done if they are to achieve all criteria described in the work.